Dutch Dairy Giant to Help Rural Women in China Earn More
CHINA - Dutch global dairy giant Royal FrieslandCampina NV said it plans to train 3,000 poverty-stricken women from rural areas to become maternity nannies in the next three years, and provide nutritional products for 7,000 children in need.The dairy-maker launched a rural revitalization fund along with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in Beijing in late October. In the initial stage, the company plans to invest 10 million yuan ($1.43 million) in a series of poverty alleviation programs in China.
"FrieslandCampina has a history of 147 years and it operates in the form of a cooperative. The company is owned by more than 19,000 dairy farmers. Our growth comes from the development of agriculture, farmers and rural areas," said Yang Guochao, senior vice-president of FrieslandCampina in China.
"Therefore, we would like to establish this fund and focus on the development of China's agriculture, countryside and farmers, and contribute to Chinese society," he said.
In 2016, the company started a program to provide free training for rural women, helping them to become nannies. So far, more than 340 women have taken part in the six-month long course, held at a vocational school in Beijing. All have since found work in major cities, earning monthly salary of between 4,500 yuan and 8,000 yuan.
"I got a stable job and my income increased significantly after I learned the professional skills of taking care of babies. Now I'm proficient in doing the job, and my life has become much better," said Wu Shujuan, a nanny that benefited from the program.
Wang Xingzui, executive vice-president of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, said in the modern era, poverty alleviation work in China has shifted to the comprehensive development of poverty-stricken rural areas.
"We have to teach people how to fish, instead of giving them fish, meaning we help them to foster skills and enable them to rely on themselves to become rich. The effect of poverty alleviation from the nanny training program is immediate and sustainable, and it is an outstanding example," he said.
As part of the fund, FrieslandCampina is also sending professional Dutch dairy farmers to visit local pastures in China, where they will provide operational and management suggestions to help local farmers raise the quality and yield of the milk they produce.
In addition, FrieslandCampina plans to help build a small town in the poverty-stricken rural area in Hebei province of North China. The plan is expected to help the area to mine its potential, and grow the local economy through rural tourism, and ecological and cultural communication.
TheCattleSite News Desk